If you squint at the new movie poster for Andrew Niccol’s film adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s The Host, you might confuse it with another Meyer franchise. Hmm, a lithe young lady, two severe-looking gentlemen… turn one or two into a vampire and, poof, you’ve got Twilight. And lord knows we’ve had enough Twilight. (Click on the movie poster for the large version.)

Okay, now take a closer look and you’ll see Saoirse Ronan, star of Hanna and The Lovely Bones, in the role of Melanie Stryder, a brave revolutionary girl (cue The Hunger Games theme) trying to save her besties and family from a parasitic alien race that scrubs human brains clean. (Hey, for some, that would be an improvement! Ba-dum!) The fella on the right is Jake Abel as Ian; on the left is Max Irons as Jared. For you older folks, The Host also features William Hurt and Frances Fisher.

The plot of The Host seems to fit writer-director Andrew Niccol like a glove. Based on his filmography, Niccol has always been interested in the difference between reality and the perception of reality, the idea of one’s life and personality being affected by outside influences and stimuli: Gattaca, The Truman Show, S1mOne, In Time. Niccol has written and directed them all, with the latter two generally lacking the quality of his first two films. Is The Host the right inspiration to get Niccol back as a thinking man’s sci-fi favorite? We’ll find out when it hits theaters March 29, 2013.

Until then, here’s the trailer for The Host:

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